


Glass of Chocolate

by mizufallsfromkumo



Category: Common Law
Genre: 5+1 Things, Gen, Hot Chocolate, Partnership, Sleepovers, Sleepyhead!Wes, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-06
Updated: 2014-06-06
Packaged: 2018-02-03 14:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1747880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mizufallsfromkumo/pseuds/mizufallsfromkumo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an event where life or death hung reasonably in the balance, they would spend the night at one of their places. That way they could see for themselves all was well should something wiggle into their dreams. It was better than being jolted awake by a phone call or a pounding on the door at three in the morning from a frantic partner.</p><p>A.K.A. The five times Wes makes Hot Chocolate for Travis with out him noticing, and the one time he woke him up</p>
            </blockquote>





	Glass of Chocolate

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to do this forever, and I finally sat down and did it. It took me forever.

“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.” ― [Linda Grayson](http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/854347.Linda_Grayson)

* * *

 

Travis and Wes learned that the quickest way to get over a large part a traumatic event was not spend time talking about. It was just to kind of be there for each other. Not that talking didn’t work, it just wasn’t the only way like the police shrinks swear it to be. Maybe that worked for other people, but Travis and Wes had found an alternative method, that worked well for them.

It was easy. After an event where life or death hung reasonably in the balance, they would spend the night at one of their places. That way they could see for themselves all was well should something wiggle into their dreams. It was better than being jolted awake by a phone call or a pounding on the door at three in the morning from a frantic partner. Even if the nightmare wasn’t about harm to the other, having them there was a reassurance that if someone came through that door, they would have each other’s backs. It’s like a sleepover, but they refuse to call it that. It’s just a thing they do that helps them get over things so they can move on.

They don’t talk about it when it’s morning. They don’t really need to ask if they need to come over, they just go. Hospital nights don’t count. No one really knows they do it either. It works for them.

\--1--

Travis woke up with a start. He scrambled and fought with the bed sheets till he felt out of bed and into the thin hallway of his trailer. The slight coolness of the floor is welcome on his back. It brings him back to reality a bit. He laid on the ground for a moment collecting himself and catching his breath. He started up at the ceiling, repeating to himself that it was all a dream.

He was home, he was safe. No one was holding him down so someone would cut him up. No one was hurting him. They weren’t mocking that fact that he was helpless and alone. Unlike the dream, backup had come sweeping in the room guns blazing, Wes leading the pack, before that. Everything was okay. The criminals were in jail, it was another successful collar.

Travis ran a hand over his face and through his hair. He gave a sigh, before moving to get up. Getting to his feet, he tossed his bed sheets back on his bed, not caring about it at the moment. He shuffled towards the kitchen, sparing Wes a glance. The blonde was curled up in the booth that was Travis’ table. Back against the wall, head in the corner nestled in a pillow, facing the door, knees bent. The blanket Travis gave him was all wrapped around him, so Travis couldn’t see his arms, but he for some reason felt like they were crossed. It was comforting to see him in a position that if he needed to, Wes would be a defense for someone just barging in.

The darker man let out a sigh of relief at the sight his partner passed out asleep. It didn’t seem like stirred in the slightest since they crashed. He was glad he hadn’t woken up Wes with his dream. This was the first time Travis had actually needed they’re unspoken method. Not that Wes would say anything if Travis had woken him up, in fact his snark might have been a welcomed comfort for once. The normality of it would have been refreshing.

Shaking his head, Travis shoved the though away and moved to grab a cup for something to drink. That was when he felt the heat from the stove top. It caused him to stop. The stovetop should have been cool. Wes had used it at seven when he got there to reheat some can soup he brought with him. Travis knew for a fact he had seen the man turn it off. He leaned over to look at the knobs to find they were all turned to off.

However that was when he saw it. The mug with some steam moving softly in the air. Travis blinked at it, before moving closer to inspect it. In the dim light from his lights outside, Travis could make out a brown sort of liquid inside, but not like a dark coffee brown, or any sort of coffee brown. He grabbed the mug, finding it pleasantly warm in his palm, and brought closer to himself. He leaned down to smell it, finding a chocolate smell greeting him, rather than coffee.

He took a quick sip, and was blown away by what meet his tongue. For starters the temperature was absolute perfection. The taste wasn’t like anything he had tasted from any Swiss Miss packet. It was creamy and rich, with just the right amount of chocolate flavor.

Travis turned to Wes’ sleeping form as he took another sip. He watched his partner closely as he slept, like he might be faking it. However Travis knew the man was passed out; his breathing was too deep to be anything else. Still he obviously knew, Wes had woken up and made the coco and left it there for him to find. Travis was amazed he hadn’t even heard anything despite his dream. He moved to see on the other side of the table and finish the drink, finding the warmth and the flavor comforting.

“Of course you would have your own Hot Chocolate recipe.” Travis muttered into the cop.

All Wes did was shift a bit in his sleep. Travis breathed a chuckle, as he finished the mug and placed it in the sink. He shuffled back to his bed, climbing back in and curling up to sleep.

The rest of the night was dreamless.

\-- 2 --

“Wes!” Travis woke up with gasping start.

He immediately turned to the recliner where Alex had told Wes to rest. Wes was passed out asleep, tucked snuggling under the covers. All of which had been pulled loose from Alex’s securing, and she had given up trying to fix. Travis relaxed at the sight.

Wes was okay. Well as okay as he could be. There was a bruise on the side of his head where someone had clocked him with something hard and knocked him uncurious. It gave him a mild concussion, nothing serious, and Wes was released within an hour, however it still put Alex in a mother hen state of worry. His attempts to reassure that it could have been worse, don’t help her calm down much. Either way, it was nothing more than a few days of desk work could heal. So Wes was okay and safe. The suspects who got the jump on him hadn’t gone through with their threats.

Travis took a breath. He didn’t think the whole thing would have affected him that much. They had been captured by suspects before, if not captured held at gunpoint. It was stuff they trained for, stuff they expect. They only thing mildly traumatizing about it was the knocked Wes out hard, and threatened his life to get Travis to talk. They never actually did anything to Wes aside from cuff him should he woke up. It was never something Travis thought would actually affect him.

Not to say that he didn’t care about Wes, they had been partners for a good year and half. Travis won’t deny he’s protective of Wes. However the suspects were never going to hurt Wes, they were too smart for that. Plus, Wes had been unconscious for the whole thing, he didn’t know anything. Yet for some reason, the darker man’s brain played out the ‘what ifs’, and they were not good.

Groaning, the darker man tossed the through blanket, Alex had clearly covered him with after he crashed. He put his feet on the ground and rubbed the sleep out of his face. He pulled his face out with a yawn. Travis moved to get up from the couch, when he found the steaming mug resting on the coffee table in front of him. Travis stared at it for a moment, with a breath of “huh,”, before he reached for it. When he brought it closer, he found the mug was filled with hot chocolate. He glanced at Wes one more time, shaking his head a bit. Again he just sort of knew Wes made it, because if it had been Alex she would have no doubt woken him up and handed it to him.

Travis smirked to himself and leaned back on the couch taking a sip, just watching Wes breathe. The hot chocolate was just like he remembered for the first time he needed their arrangement. It was the prefect temperature, texture, and favor.

A few moments later, the sound of someone coming down the stairs came from behind Travis. He turned to see Alex making her way down the stairs as quietly as she could manage. She was dressed in a robe, looking like she had just tossed it one. She gave Travis a tired grin of sorts when she noticed he was up as she neared the end of the stairs.

“Did I wake you up?” Travis asked politely. He would feel bad if he had. Alex and him weren’t exactly friends on that level yet. There was still some lingering awkwardness, but it wasn’t like they couldn’t be left alone in a room and just look at each with weird smiles. Not to mention Alex was getting use to the cop thing, and Travis with the whole thing that Wes was his partner and all that that entailed. They were bonding.

Alex shook her head. “No, I was just coming down to wake Wes up, as per doctor’s orders to wake him up every few hours.” She said tiredly as she rounded the coffee table.

She paused for a moment when her eyes landed on the mug in Travis’ hand. He watch her eyes slowly shift to Wes. She seemed to think for a moment before shaking the thoughts away and going to wake Wes up.

Travis chuckled into his cup when Wes whined and childishly pulled the blankets over his head.

\-- 3 --

Travis woke up with a bit of a jolt, but other than that he stayed relatively still. He stared at the wall parallel to him, and was blindside by a panic of not knowing where he was. He sharply reached for the lamp behind the bed he was in. Flicking it on, he was greeted with the sight of a loosely decorated bedroom. It was furnished with a slightly matching collection of bed room furniture, and rather plain looking bed spread. It was familiar upon sight.

Guest bedroom, Travis’ brain registered. He relaxed instantly as he remembered Wes directing him to put his things in his usual room, with Alex commenting on how it was his unofficial bedroom. So all was well. He was somewhere he had been a reasonable number of times before. Somewhere that was safe. He glanced at the door to see it was slightly open, enough room for someone to peek through if needed.

With a sigh, Travis closed his eyes and feel back on the pillows. He landed with a soft flop, and was forced to address what woke him up. The events of the day had played over and over in his head; nothing changed or altered, no different outcome. He just kept reliving it, as if processing it beyond the spectrum of adrenaline. It wasn’t as horrible as most dreams that woke him up. Just yanking Wes down and into cover just fractions of a second before the explosion.

He hadn’t had time to think and process what happened. All he had registered was they were okay, just a little hard of hearing, which Kate and Amy had enjoyed. He had to assess the other damage like a cop, after that.

Travis opened his eyes. He turned to glance at the clock on the night stand to his right. He clucked his tongue at the sight of a steaming mug blocking the view of the hour side of the digital clock. He rolled his eyes slightly, as he shifted and rolled onto his stomach to grab it. He grumbled a bit about how it wouldn’t kill Wes to wake him up to make sure he was okay. Grabbing the cup, he propped himself up on his elbows and took a long whiff of the drink. Hot chocolate again, this time with a few tinny little marshmallows floating at the top.

He grinned as he took a long sip, before turning his eyes to the clock. 3:26 am is what the clock read. Travis doesn’t bat in eye, because he really doesn’t overly care about the time. He was pretty certain he was going to fall back asleep. He always does.

Travis pushed himself up to his knees, and wades his way through the sheets to the edge of the bed. He rose from the bed and walked towards the door. Carefully minding his hot chocolate as he walked and drank. He pushed it open gently, and then made his way down the hall as quietly as he could. Wes’ hard wood floors creaked a bit, because they don’t understand silence. He made his way towards the end of the hall, to Wes’ and Alex’s room.

The door was propped open just enough to look thorough as it always was, just in case. Taking another sip of his hot chocolate, Travis peeked in. Both his partner and his wife were passed out and perfectly still in bed. Cuddled up close like the married couple they were. There was no sign of movement form any of them.

Smiling to himself, Travis turned and made his way back to his unofficial bedroom. He cursed the floor boards as they creaked a little louder than before.

\-- 4 --

Travis snapped awake at the feeling of a sudden weight on his shoulder. He’s brain kicking into panic mode as he came out of the blackness and into wakefulness. Fright or fight knocking down the door, not going Travis a chance to even register where he was. He moved to reach for his gun out of instinct, only he can move his right arm. It’s pinned down by a weight, and it sets his panic rate higher. He turned sharply to his right. He was surprised to find the top of Wes’ head so to his face.

Blinking, Travis paused for a moment. The panic rested with him for a brief second before flushing away, as Wes took a deep, sleep-filled breath. Travis let out a huff of a laugh, as he scratched at his scalp. He leaned forward as much as he could without moving Wes too much or making him fall over. The blonde detective was as always sound asleep, and resting his head on Travis’ shoulder. It seemed his body had given up trying to support itself asleep and he just flopped over in Travis’ direction.

Travis leaned back and grinning to himself. After the day that had before, it was kind of a moment the darker detective wasn’t going to get out just yet. It had just sort of been one thing after the other. The collared a case after a long night of putting the puzzle pieces together. It wasn’t bad, till the lady didn’t go down without a fight, Wes was quick on his feet. After that they caught a robbery, and after a long car chase the suspects vanished into a warehouse. They had managed to snatch Wes up as a hostage and hold up with him for another few hours.

Nothing bad happened to Wes, aside from having a gun shoved too his head. It was still terrible, but somewhat in the job description. Wes was cleared by the paramedics within ten minutes. Everything had been fine, until they had gotten to Travis’ trailer, it all came crashing down on Wes. Talking about things wasn’t exactly in the scope of their arrangement, but Travis made an exception, because Wes needed something.

Wes’ life had been falling apart, Travis had noticed, but acted as if all was the same for Wes’ sake. Alex and him had agreed to sometime away from each other, but it ended up in divorce paper. The whole hostage thing had been the breaking point of Wes’ carefully protected facade. Travis hadn’t had the heart to leave Wes’ side. They didn’t really talk; they just sort of had small talk and let the general sense of being there for the other do the healing it needed. They had been exhausted, just drifted off to sleep without much warning.

With a sigh, Travis glanced around his trailer. Wes and him where resting where his table was, he had converted it to the second bed. The dim light of his Christmas lights outside were flooding in through the kitchen window. Travis snorted as his eyes fixed on the mug sitting on the counter space by the door. He sniffed at the air, and picked up on the faint sent of chocolate hanging in the air.

“Goddammit, Wes.” Travis grumbled, turning to his sleeping partner.

He knew he had obviously done something to wake Wes up. His sleep might not have been dreaming about black like he thought he had. However he clearly hadn’t been aware enough to jump awake at the feel of Wes moving around to get up to make the cup of hot chocolate. Grumbling some complaints to himself, Travis carefully moved Wes so he was leaning against the corner. Wes shifted a bit, and Travis froze for a moment, before nothing happened. He shuffled out of the space and rose to get the hot chocolate.

The taste was welcoming on his tongue and the temperature perfect as he came to expect. Travis took two greedy sips of from the mug before he moved to his fish out the spare blankets he had. He tucks two under his arm, and carefully places them on the edged by Wes’ feet. Travis put down the mug down on the counter, and then grabbed a blanket. He unfolded it, before draping it over Wes from. Wes woke up with a sudden start.

“Relax, it’s just a blanket.” Travis said gently as Wes scrambled at his senses. Travis understood, after everything the other had been through that day, the jumpiness was a little expected.

Wes calmed at the sound and sight of Travis. “What time is it?” Wes asked unintelligently as he rubbed a side of his face.

“Uh…2:56,” Travis said as he glanced at his watch in the light.

“Why are you up?” Wes asked as he glared at his own watch to double check what Travis said.

“You fell over sleeping and startled me awake.” Travis said unfolding his own blanket.

“Sorry,” Wes said dimly, glancing away. Travis just shrugged as he turned to grab a few spare pillows.

He tossed on at Wes, who made a small sound as it hit him. Travis grabbed on from his bed, and tossed it where he was sitting. Wes looked at him oddly, but Travis didn’t pay him any mind as he grabbed his mug. He plopped down next to the blonde and tossed a blanket over his legs, and settled in again.

“What ar—”

“After the day we had, I kind of don’t want to sleep alone.” Travis cut Wes off. “Besides, it’s not like we weren’t just doing this.”

Wes chuckled at the words but nodded. He shifted a bit before making himself comfortable. A silence settled on them. Only filled with the occasional sound of Travis sipping at the hot chocolate, or a sound from outside. There was also a few deep breaths from Wes.

“Night Travis.” Wes said cutting through the silence.

“Night Wes,” Travis returned, placing the mug on the floor.

\-- 5 --

“Fuck,” Travis cursed as he opened his eyes and started at the ceiling.

He sighed and turned to look at the clock. He didn’t really pay attention to what the numbers said, all he got was that it was somewhere early in the morning. He laid there staring at the clock for a moment, before rolling onto his stomach and propping himself up on his elbows. He buried his face in his hands and let out another breath, before dropping his head down on the bed. A nightmare hadn’t exactly woken him up; it was more of a raging sort of dream vomit.

Everything with Paekman murders and SIS had finally been cleared up. They had closed everything up so nicely. But for some reason the fact that Paekman was dead because Crowl and his men tried to cheat the system, had gone to Travis’ core. His rage had fiddled with all of the ‘what if’s in his head, his nightmare taking sharp turns into different what ifs. Taking time to explore the bad ones, ones where Wes and him got shot, in more detail, because that’s how it worked apparently.

After a moment, Travis gave another sigh and pushed himself out of his bed. He shuffled his way towards his kitchen, rubbing some sleep out of his eye. Yawning he found a mug resting on his bar counter. Travis smirked, and glanced over to find Wes facing the back of the couch.

He was as Travis remembered leaving him after a few drinks. Wes had rolled over to face the back of the couch with a “shut up Travis,” and a sly smile. Despite the blankets he was using being slightly messed up, not much had changed. Their unofficial cooping arrangement was mixed with a little celebration. They had been shoot at, and closed a case that was the whole reason behind Therapy. It was a big thing. They handled process without really handling it.

Travis grabbed the mug, already knowing what it was. He took a sip, perfect temperature as he had just come to expect. Grinning to himself, he plopped down in the recliner next to Wes. After a few more sips, he nudged at Wes’ leg with his foot. Wes gave a groan and curled up tighter, causing Travis to snicker behind his mug. He nudged at Wes harder, until Wes growled and rolled over on his stomach to glare at Travis.

“What are we going to do about therapy?” Travis asked, before Wes could grumble anything out.

\-- +1 --

A loud crash from the kitchen and a curse woke Travis up. He sat up quickly, his mind quickly going to he was getting robbed. He turned to reach for his gun, only to be barricaded by something plush. He paused for a moment as he tried to think of what could possibly be in his head that was stopping him, and he couldn’t think of anything. However his eyes settled on a bookcase he never remembered having. He pulled back for a moment, as he remembered he was sleeping at Wes’ place. Meaning he was on Wes’ couch, there for his gun resting on the end table by his head.

Travis turned to the kitchen, where there was the sound of some pots and pans clanking together. The kitchen was dimly little, only Wes’ fancy under the cabinet lighters were flicked on. Wes suddenly popped up from behind the counter. He shakily put, what Travis figured was a stack of pots and pans, on the counter top. It looked awkwardly done as well, but Travis knew that was because Wes was using his less dominant arm to do it. A suspect had tried to run Wes over with their car; they only managed to break his right arm and scratch him up a little, rather than run him over.

With a small sigh, Travis got up from couch and made his way to the kitchen. Wes was carefully trying to stack different pots and pans, and seeing if he could lift and balanced them. It didn’t seem to be going as well as he had hoped.

“Here, I got that.” Travis said, swooping in to grab the whole stack.

Wes looked at him blankly, before sighing and letting Travis pick the stack up. “Sorry I didn’t mean to wake you up.” Wes said as Travis put the stack on the counter. “I thought I could manage with just one arm.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Travis said turning around to see Wes making a motion with his right arm in the sling. “You okay, I take it they all fell on you.”

Wes simply nodded in reply.

A silence came between them for a moment, as neither of them seemed to find anything to say. Travis collected the last few pots and pans from the floor. He placed them on the counter, before turning back to Wes.

“So, what are you doing up?” Travis asked curiously to fill the space.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Wes said rubbing the back of his neck. He held out his slinged armed again. “My arm was bothering me a bit. I was going to make some hot chocolate to help me relax.” Wes said awkwardly. He motioned to stove behind him with his good arm, where Travis noticed some ingredients had been laid out. Travis raised an interested eyebrow at the words. “You want some?” Wes asked.

“Sure.” Travis responded maybe a bit too fast.

If Wes noticed however, he didn’t acknowledge it, he just nodded. Wes turned grabbed a measuring cup, and filled it with water. He poured it into a medium size sauce pan, before turning the stove top on. Travis moved to carefully stack the pots and pans in a way he figured Wes would, while Wes started to measure out some dry ingredients.

Travis smiled at bit to himself. Of course Wes’ hot chocolate, that he no doubt made for Travis countless times, but never took credit for, would be made from scratch. Travis carefully returned the pots and pans back in their respected cabinet, as the water started to boil. Wes dumped in all dry ingredients in and stirred it all together. Wes asked Travis to drab the milk and half-and-half from the fridge, as well as measure out the amount of milk he needed. Wes dumped the milk into the sauce pan, as Travis went to find some mugs. Wes’ place was still relatively new to him. Despite the fact that Wes had moved in some months before.

“Cabinet by the fridge.” Wes suddenly reminded him, pointing with the wooden spoon he had in his hand.

Travis made a sound of the thanks as he moved to the said cabinet. He grabbed out two mugs, placed them beside the stove, as Wes flicked it off and moved the pot to a cool range. Wes paused for a moment, when he realized he could hold the mugs and pour the hot chocolate into them. It was sort of comical to watch for a few moments. Travis shooed him out of the way, and did it himself, with Wes carefully watching from over his shoulder and muttering at him to stop pouring.

Travis snatched up a mug once he put the pot down, only to have Wes grab him sharply. He turned to Wes with confusion, but the man just poured some of the half-and-half into Travis mug before letting him good. Travis watched him to the same to the mug that was left for him, before he moved to put it away in the fridge.

Travis waited till Wes grabbed his mug, before taking a sip of his hot chocolate. He hummed happily at the taste and temperature. Just like how he always woke up to find it waiting for him. He heard Wes snort at him from behind his mug, but Travis didn’t care.

“You make the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted.” Travis commented after a few more sips.

“My grandfather use to make it when I was little and couldn’t sleep, or was worked up about something.” Wes said tapping at his mug.

“Most of my foster mom’s just made me toast. Which surprisingly worked.”

Wes chuckled at the comment.

An idea stuck Travis suddenly. He quickly put his mug on the counter and rushed to Wes’ fridge, where he knew Wes kept his bread. He yanked out the hardly used loaf. He tossed it onto the counter by the fridge, earning an odd look from Wes.

“What are you doing?” Wes ask.

“Making toast to dip in your hot chocolate.” Travis informed, moving to Wes’ toaster.

“Of course, that is totally something you would do. Why don’t I just make you a butter and Nutella sandwich, while we’re here?”

“Wes, I know you don’t have Nutella,” Travis said as he placed some bread in the toaster. Wes raised a challenging eyebrow at the words. “I will stop dating people at work for a week if you have Nutella.”

Wes just rolled his eyes in return, and Travis smiled to himself. Especially when Wes didn’t move to pull something out the cabinet and prove him wrong. Travis could feel Wes watching him as he made the toast, and shaking his head. After a while, Wes moved into the living area where Travis had been sleeping. He flicked on the TV, and was flipping through mindless late night TV when Travis joined him with his plate of toast.

“You’re an idiot.” Wes comment.

“You’re the idiot for not trying this.” Travis said with his mouthful. “It’s really good.”

Wes just laughed settled on some stupid infomercial for them to watch.

**Author's Note:**

> So Ta-da. I know 5 falls a little short, but whatever. The thing about Kate and Amy in 3 came from the idea that I have where Kate and Amy pick and tease Travis and Wes about everything when their bored. So in 3, Travis and Wes lose their hearing, and I picture Kate and Amy being like "Losers say 'What'?" and Travis and Wes being like "What?!" then Kate and Amy laughing.
> 
> I have a headcanon that Wes is a big sleepyhead, so he can go back to sleep in a flash if he wakes up for something (that is if it doesn't scare him). Which is why he's always asleep when Travis wakes up and find the coco waiting for him. Also I figure there are times where Travis wakes Wes up, but doesn't wake up from the dream (or remember it), but Wes still makes coco, he just gets rid of it because he wakes up early and makes coffee.
> 
> Also, I don't know if other people do this, but I keep my bread in the fridge. Some pointed it out to me that it was weird, but my whole family does it, and I know it makes the bread last way long. So I wrote that without realizing it and then I was like "Wait, some said that was weird" but then I thought about it was like Wes would so but his bread in the fridge.
> 
> Okay bye!


End file.
